Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday criticized Western leaders for their lack of reaction to Moscow’s threat to attack Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, news agency MIA informs.
“Think about the sense of impunity of the invaders,” Zelensky said in a video posted to his Telegram account. “I have not heard a reaction from any world leader today… not a word, as if Western leaders have dissolved tonight.”
Earlier in the day, Moscow announced that its forces intended to strike Ukraine’s military-industrial complex with what it said were precision weapons. A second attempt to evacuate the embattled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol failed on Sunday, according to the Kremlin and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
During talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for not adhering to the agreed ceasefire, the Kremlin said. According to Moscow, Ukrainian nationalists did not allow people from Mariupol and Volnovakha to be brought to safety. Instead, the ceasefire was used to allow the Ukrainian troops to seek new positions, Moscow alleged.
The ICRC said the attempt to start relocating around estimated 200,000 people was unsuccessful, but it would remain in Mariupol and be “ready to help facilitate further attempts – if the parties reach an agreement.
” Pro-Russian separatists said earlier that some 300 people were initially able to leave. No figures have yet been provided by Ukrainian officials. As with almost all information coming out of Ukraine these days, it was impossible to independently verify. A similar effort in Mariupol and nearby Volnovakha quickly fell apart on Saturday, stranding residents who had hoped to leave by private vehicles and organized bus journeys.
Several hundred thousand Ukrainians must be evacuated from their towns immediately, according to the Ukrainian Presidential office. Meanwhile the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that the evacuation of international mission members from Ukraine was almost complete.
There are already several dozen towns in eight regions across the country where the humanitarian situation is catastrophic, the Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported, citing comments from the presidential office.
According to the newspaper, the presidential office has also accused Russia of using the humanitarian corridors as a pretext to strengthen its own military positions and completely conquer Ukraine.
More than 163,000 people have been evacuated from Ukraine to Russia since the start of Moscow’s invasion of its neighboring country, military officials say, according to comments carried by Interfax. Russia’s aerial attack had continued in Mariupol through Saturday night. Many people are living without electricity, water and heat, while running short on food and other essentials. Mariupol — a city of some 440,000 — is a strategic city located in the Donetsk region, parts of which are under the control of Moscow-backed separatists and Russian forces.
The capture of Mariupol would be a significant win for Moscow, as Russian troops would then begin to be able to join up with their counterparts elsewhere in Donetsk and in the Crimean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine, with the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces warning that Russian forces were aiming to seize the dam of the key Kaniv hydroelectric power station, located some 150 kilometres south of Kiev on the Dnipro River.
So far, Russian forces have destroyed, attacked or captured several energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine, including Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the Zaporizhzhia plant continues to be operated by regular staff, however its management is now under the Russian armed forces, whose approval is required for measures related to the technical operation of the six reactor units.
This runs counter to the concept of safety at nuclear power plants as the staff must be able to perform their safety tasks without pressure, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said and expressed “grave concern.”
Ukraine also reported that the Russian forces at the site have switched off some mobile networks and the internet so that “reliable information from the site cannot be obtained through the normal channels of communication,” the IAEA said.
Russian forces also destroyed an airport in the western region of Vinnytsia, Zelensky said on Sunday.
The TV tower in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been damaged in a Russian attack, Ukrainian officials told the UNIAN news agency, meaning television broadcasts have been shut down for now. Russia made no comment. The main focus of the Russian troops continues to be the encirclement of the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv in the east and Mykolaiv in the south. Zelensky said hundreds of Russian soldiers have been captured by Ukrainian forces. The US ambassador to the United Nations said hundreds are also being killed.
“Putin has made the decision that he wants to continue with confrontation, with escalation, with attacks on civilians and to move forward in this war that Russia is feeling as much as anyone,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield told US broadcaster ABC. UNIAN reported on Saturday that 194 people had been killed in the Kharkiv region since the war began on Feb. 24, including 126 civilians. After one and a half weeks of war, Ukraine and Russia are expected to meet for third round of negotiations, which both sides had said could take place on Monday. The location and exact time of the talks were initially unclear.
Meanwhile, efforts to mediate in the conflict continued. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke again on Sunday with Putin after their meeting the previous day, and also held talks with Zelensky on Sunday, his office confirmed.
According to his spokesperson, Bennett also spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Macron on Sunday, but there were no details. Israel is being discussed as a potential mediator in the conflict. According to media reports, Zelensky has asked Bennett to host negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Israel.
Meanwhile, more than 4,400 people have been arrested in cities across Russia amid renewed demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine, according to civil rights activists.
